Discussion of wetland restoration techniques used over the past 30 years in California

1. Notes from the Field
Michael Josselyn, PhD, PWS

2. PhD in Botany 1978
Professor at San
Francisco State
University 1978-2000
Initiated research on
tidal wetland restoration
Founded company
focused on restoration
and mitigation projects

3. It is easy to create a marsh;
it is hard to create a wetland system
Restoration is not just a science or an art;
it is the practical application of
knowledge
Mitigation is a regulatory outcome;
its success is a function of policy
decisions
Time is your friend; as long as it doesn’t run
out

4. Clean Water Act
Wetlands defined by
presence of obligate
wetland plants
Focus on tidal marsh
restoration using
dredged materials
Spartina was king
Little interest in drier
end wetlands

5. Placement of
dredged materials
critical
• Too high: acid soil
conditions
• Too low: no vegetation
establishment
Focused on
vegetation
establishment as
primary criteria

6. Tidal channels
improve habitat
function
Tidal energy
necessary to form
channels
High marsh areas
have slower channel
formation

7. Muzzi Marsh after 20 years—natural revegetation by cordgrass
after sedimentation occurred also gives rise of natural channel
configuration
Williams and Faber (2001)

8. Most marsh species
found above 60%
exposed
Pickleweed marsh
found 80% or greater

9. Development and use of tidal gates can provide the same
exposure frequencies so that vegetated marshes can be
established in subsided lands behind levees

10. FWS wetland inventory and “community
profiles” of wetland types
• Recognizes seasonal hydrology subtypes
Corps adopts 87 Delineation Manual
• 5-12 % of the growing season for wetland hydrology
Mitigation becomes an essential
element of permitting
“Nothing is working”
• Race (1983) 90% of the restoration sites are failures
• Kusler et al (1989) compliance vs functional success

11. • Vernal pools, diked wetlands; seasonal
wetlands
• Mitigation needs to reflect new
hydrology standard
• Most previous projects focused
only on obligate wetland
species

12. Josselyn et al 1990

13. Mitigation for drier wetlands needs to consider saturation over
3 month period in growing season
( development of anaerobic conditions takes longer than 7 days)

14. Kusler and Kentula (1990)
• Partial failures common
• Success varies by type of wetland and functions
• Short and long-term success different
• Multidiscplinary expertise required
• Clear and specific goals for mitigation projects
National Research Council (1991)
• Strive to restore self sustaining systems
• Develop innovative methods to accelerate
restoration
• Support experimental research in restoration

15. No net loss policy initiated by federal
and state agencies
• Mitigation ratios increase
Assessment methods to evaluate wetland
success on functional basis
Complex ecosystems being designed as
mitigation
Vernal pool restoration technology
improving

16. Permits issued between
1988-1994 by Corps in
California total over 3100
Most required wetland
mitigation/restoration
Most required 5 year
monitoring

17. In-kind mitigation
Creation given highest
priority
More acreage than
impacted
Success in 5 years
Complete at low cost

18. National Research Council 2001 Percent Successful

20. Mitigation for Port Fill
[650 acres mitigation]
Restoration of tidal
inlet
Dredging of fine
sediments
Creation of shorebird
nesting islands
Planting of emergent
and submerged
vegetation
Courtesy: Merkel and Associates, 2009

21. Fears that Port was destroying existing
habitat for shorebirds
Dredging project was too big and would
be destructive to existing coastal
vegetated wetland and endangered
species
Federal and State Courts ruled against
ESA and CEQA challenges

22. Revegetation
successful
Cordgrass
and eelgrass
increase
unexpected
Decline in
intertidal
mudflats
Courtesy: Merkel and Associates, 2009

23. COMPARED TO OTHER
FISH SPECIES NUMBER
LAGOONS
N um ber o f Fish Species W ith in Bat iquit o s Lagoo n
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1984 1994 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2003 2005 2006
Courtesy: Merkel and Associates, 2009

24. Shorebirds
Light footed clapper rail
Photo: Monte Stinnett
Courtesy: Merkel and Associates, 2009

25. Courtesy: Merkel and Associates, 2009

26. Restoring entire ecosystems requires patience and acceptance
that habitats will evolve.
Change is inevitable and management needs to be flexible.

27. Mitigation for
commercial
development in
Fremont, CA
Degraded seasonal
wetlands on former
agricultural lands
Required restoration
of natural vernal pool
landscape

28. Development next to
US FWS Refuge
Two listed species
with restricted
distribution
• VPTS and CC
Goldfields
Focused attention by
conservation groups

29. Demonstrate
feasibility of
establishing tadpole
shrimp habitat
Strict performance
standards for
hydrology and
vegetation
Implement grazing
program

32. INCREASED VP PLANT SPECIES IMPROVED OVER TIME

34. Threshold requirements as performance standards do not
recognize natural variability.
Cows are your friends.

35. Corps adopts compensatory mitigation
policies
Mitigation banks become of age
Stormwater and
LID wetlands
Climate change
affects
everything

36. Issued by Corps of Engineers: April 2008
• Sets forth regulations for mitigation compliance
Mitigation banking given preference
• Followed by in-lieu fee and permittee-
responsible mitigation
Sets forth 12 fundamental components for
mitigation plans
Emphasis replacement in watershed
Provides for functional assessment

38. BEFORE AFTER

39. Our knowledge of wetland systems including plants, soils, and
hydrology is providing the basis for a sophisticated design and
public use of wetland systems in the urban environment

40. Wetland restoration can achieve successful
outcomes but usually not as expected
Linkage between hydrology, soils, and
plants is better known and allows for more
sophisticated designs of drier wetlands
Wetland restoration will necessarily
become more complex as our demand on
wetland performance increases

41. Time is of the
essence
Pressure on wetlands
is increasing
Need for large scale
restoration is
unprecedented and
immediate